Care for Succulents when it’s hot as hell
While most cacti thrive in the hottest days of summer, embracing the intense sun and dry, baking heat we get here in San Diego, not all succulents are quite as excited about it.
I have several groups of succulents, with some enjoying the heat more than others. Similar to my cacti, I water all of my succulents thoroughly when they completely dry out, but some species are definitely thirstier than others.
Soft Bodied Succulents – Aeoniums, Crassula, Echeveria, Graptoveria, Sedums, etc
These are the soft succulents that seem to get thirsty the fastest. They have small, shallow root systems compared to some of the other succulent, particularly aloes, haworthias, or agaves. These succulents can grow into large ground-covering mats, or shrub-like bushes, but they all have roots that tend to be small and shallow.
On one hand, this means that they are easy to water – you only need moisture to penetrate an inch or two into the ground, if you have them in-ground, and in pots, they don’t need an excessive amount of attention paid to how deeply you’re watering them.
You can test how well-watered your plants are by gently squeezing the outer leaves toward the center. This works particularly well for the plants that grow in a rosette shape, such as echeverias & their hybrids, or for soft bodied species such as crassula. When they’re thirsty, they will feel very soft, almost like the flesh of a strawberry or a bell pepper that’s going bad. They also often wrinkle similar to a pepper that’s slightly old, and that texture is a strong sign that your succulents need water. If the leaves are firm, and you can only move them a little (if at all), the plant is properly hydrated and doesn’t need more water.
A sign of over-watering is the plant also getting mushy, particularly the outer-most leaves. Outer leaves will also become prone to falling off with little to no effort, which can be very frustrating if you’re trying to grow a big perfect plant.
Aeoniums are one group that won’t respond quite this way – they generally go dormant in summer, and boy do they get beat. up. with the heat and sun. The genus generally closes up the flower-shaped face, cupping the leaves inward to preserve moisture while the weather is at its worst. They should be watered throughout the heat, but expect that they’ll stay closed up and look scraggily until it cools down again.
Aloes, Gasterias, and Haworthias
Aloes and Haworthias both have substantial root systems, and generally don’t need to be watered quite as frequently as their softer bodied cousins. I treat my aloes more like cacti than succulents, watering them only when quite dry and letting them get a little stressed. During our heat wave with 100F days, this was every couple days, but during normal summer weather it’s only once a week or so.
The biggest difference between aloes & cacti and lots of water in summer is generally that common container aloes will put out a ton of growth, as long as it’s warm and their soil isn’t downright soggy. Tree aloes and many true species seem to go somewhat dormant in summer, growing but not looking their best. As with the rest, I water these thoroughly, usually with a sprinkler in the evenings so that the water hits the plant leaves as well slowly and thoroughly penetrating the soil.
My few gasteria and haworthia plants are all in pots, and are watered on the same general rotation and with the same care as my cacti. They are generally quite vigorous with their root systems, but slower growing, so they don’t necessarily need frequent watering – just thorough.
Two of my favorite aloe species go distinctly dormant in summer – Aloe peglerae, and Aloe polyphylla. The peglerae draws into a ball, protecting the tender inner leaves from the intense heat of the sun. Aloe polyphylla prefers a cooler climate than we have here, and even though my plants are all growing consistently, their leaf tips are getting the slight burn and darkening from the heat that wild specimens typically develop. To get a perfect spiral aloe with green tips all the way around, I would likely need to live somewhere cooler or have a cooled greenhouse to protect the plant.
Agaves
Lucky me, many agaves are from regions almost identical to the growing conditions here in my yard. They thrive in hot, dry weather, eat up the sun, and grow quite robustly with little to no human intervention.
Hybrids are a different story, however, and young agaves need more help. The smaller cultivars, particularly those from Japanese horticultural origins, are quite sensitive to too much sun and will quickly burn. They also like more water than the true species, especially if they are in more sun. The more shade they get, the less water they need.
I water my larger in-ground specimens less often, usually only as an afterthought while watering my specimen cacti that are also in the ground. I don’t particularly want my agaves to get huge and take off too quickly, as once they mature, they put out their death bloom.
Water Quality
It’s worth noting that all of my outdoor potted plants receive regular city tap water, no filtration, and nothing special added to condition it. Our water is highly alkaline, and tends to be fairly hard, leaving mineral deposits on just about anything it touches. The hardness, and the mineral deposits, are why I make a point to water my plants from the top until the water drains from the bottom.
Thank you for reading!
